Habibie says he won't contest next election

Habibie says he won't contest next election

JAKARTA (Reuters): President B.J. Habibie said here yesterday he was pushing Indonesia's electoral reform programs as fast as possible despite calls by critics for even speedier elections.

He also told Reuters Television in an interview he had no plans to continue as head of state after the next presidential poll.

Asked if he planned to be president in January 2000 after the next election, he responded: "Oh no, no, no, I'm not planning for that."

He added: "I did not even plan that I would be the president right now," he said, in reference to his assumption of office three weeks ago.

Habibie took over on May 21 from Soeharto, who resigned amid economic collapse and mounting demands for political and economic reforms.

Asked about criticism that the electoral reform process he had proposed was too slow, Habibie replied: "I could not go faster... it's not that I don't want to be fair, but they have to be fair to me."

He said a new electoral law would be drafted over the next two months and then the public would have one month in which to scrutinize it and suggest amendments.

Draft laws would be submitted to parliament for ratification by the end of the year. General elections would be organized across the archipelago of 202 million people and held in May.

A meeting of the nation's top constitutional body would come at the end of 1999 to elect a new president and vice president.

"I'm not a genie who says 'Zingaboom' and everything is there," said Habibie. "I have to take care that everybody is happy, and that everybody says the election is correct, based on the law, it's legal."

Asked about the status of the Armed Forces, the most cohesive organization in Indonesia and a power behind the presidency, Habibie said it would retain its dual function role of defending the nation and involvement in politics and social development.

He said the military should adapt to changing times, but that it should also be kept outside the election process and be allotted 50 seats in parliament to give it a voice in the House of Representatives. The Armed Forces currently has 75 seats allotted but there have been suggestions this should be ended.

Habibie added that members of the military should no longer involve themselves in the business world, necessary at one time to finance operations for lack of adequate budget allocations.

The President said other reforms had been pushed through over the past 20 days.

Political prisoners were being released, and he said he had set up criteria for amnesties. Those who did not qualify for amnesty included members of "illegal" organizations working against the Constitution, people seeking to undermine the Constitution and common criminals.

On the thorny issue of East Timor, which has bedeviled the country's international relations since it was incorporated as part of the republic in 1976, Habibie said he was ready to consider granting "special status" to the territory.

But he insisted the territory would remain an integral part of the country.